Freedom Home Care Ltd

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

Caring – this means we looked for evidence that the provider involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Without exception, the feedback we received from people and their relatives about their care was very positive and included information about how staff maintained people’s privacy and dignity.

Care plans outlined how people’s privacy and dignity needs should be met including how to support people’s independence, by encouraging them to retain their abilities to perform aspects of their own personal care.

People told us how staff worked to their relative’s speed, never rushing their care and one person told us, “They know what I can and can’t do, they don’t patronise me or rush me, we have a laugh.” A relative told us, “[They] look forward to them coming as they cheer them up, they treat [relation] and their property with respect.”

Staff were aware of the need to maintain people’s dignity and gave us several examples of how they would do this.

People’s protected characteristics were considered in their assessments and care plans, to ensure care was tailored to people's needs and preferences. Satisfaction surveys asked if people felt respected around their needs and any social and emotional health preferences, and beliefs.

People’s religious needs were recorded and one relative told us, “They take [person] to Church every Sunday morning and stay with them, that`s really good of them.

Another relative, when asked if staff provided individualised care told us, “Yes, it is as individual as [person] is.”

Care plans were centred around people preferences and needs and staff respected people’s choices. People and their relatives confirmed they were involved in planning and reviewing their care.

Care records included an ‘About me’ section which included important information to help staff get to know the person they were supporting. However, these had not always been fully completed. The registered manager assured us this would be addressed.

One person’s care plan detailed how they liked to be independent and how they liked to receive support to maintain this. The person’s ‘About me’ section of their care records also said independence is important to the person.

Assessments and reviews of care asked what they would like to achieve from the support they received. One person said they would like to remain as independent as possible in their own home and maintain the level of care they had been receiving. Feedback from their relative at a care review said the person was “much better and had gained more independence” since using the service.

Staff understood the importance of supporting people to maintain their independence wherever possible. One staff member told us, “I try to work with every person and know what they can do for themselves. When people have been used to living without help it must be hard to have to admit you need help, so I make sure I don’t take over, just support where they need me to.”

People told us times of calls could be changed to suit attendance at appointments or for personal reasons. One person said the service was “brilliant” at changing call times when needed. They told us how staff had changed their morning call to 5am on one occasion, to suit their needs. The management team was available to support people if needed.

People told us that when their reviews indicated support need changes, this was done. One person said an increase in calls, following their care review, had helped them.

All staff receive an employee handbook which included information about all aspects of the service, policies and procedures, advice, safeguarding information, staff rights and information about the role. The handbook detailed the support staff would be given and what to do if they had any concerns.

Without exception, staff felt supported by the management team. They gave us examples of working hours being arranged to suit their personal circumstances. One staff member told us, “All the managers and team care so much, that in itself is good for well-being. I’m never feeling under pressure because I know the managers really care and understand.” And another told us, “Everyone is respected here, the managers support staff inside and outside of work, if need be. It’s a caring company, so supportive and flexible.”